Team Herald
MARGAO: Power Minister Nilesh Cabral on Tuesday said that the electricity department would be able to provide uninterrupted power supply within one and a half year provided the people cooperated and are willing to give their land for erecting the infrastructure.
Speaking at a function after commissioning the new 200 KV distribution transformer at Nagmodem in Navelim, he said installing transformers would not solve the problem of erratic power as Goa gets its power from other states and parallel lines have to be laid to draw that power.
He said the present attitude of objecting to infrastructure will not work and pointed out that the Nagmodem transformer was actually proposed more than 10 years ago and was delayed because of objections.
“We need land to erect transformers; poles to be stringed with high tension wires and for this people will have to sacrifice their land for better facilities as everybody suffers when there is a power failure,” he said.
He asserted that he would not be laying any underground cables by digging roads and said land adjacent to the road would be used and appealed to the people to willingly give NOC as the power cables deep in the ground should not affect anybody.
Observing out that funds are required to erect the infrastructure, he said the government is going through a crunch because of the mining imbroglio and appealed to Luizinho Faleiro to prevail upon his party leadership to support the bill pertaining to mining in Goa when it is introduced in the Parliament.
Assuring Luizinho that he would take up Navelim constituency as a special case if the people extend their cooperation to the department, Cabral further said that he would expedite the work of setting up a 30 MVA substation behind the Navelim church on the Comunidade land.
Luizinho informed that the comunidade has already given its NOC, while the legal heirs of the registered tenant have also agreed to give their NOC. Therefore, he appealed to the power minister to take up that work on priority.
Luizinho also requested Cabral to rework the sanctioned project of Rs 64 crore to lay underground cables in Navelim as the digging of roads would cause trouble to people who as it is have been harassed due to the ongoing sewerage work in the village.
Instead, he asked for bunched cables to be laid in the village which would be overhead cables and would reduce the cost to Rs 20 crore and give relief to the people who are suffering from the old transmission and distribution network that needs to be replaced.
The new transformer commissioned at the cost of Rs 15 lakh will provide relief to the people from Telaulim, Nagmodem, Sinquetim and Toleaband which were currently being served by one transformer. While the old transformer will continue to serve Sinquetim and Toelaband areas, Telaulim and Nagmodem will be connected to the new transformer.
